System and method for determining a topology of at least one application in a computerized organization

Abstract

Systems and methods for skeleton-based discovery of an application in a computer network are provided. An implementation of the system includes a processor configured to generate a template for an application topology of the application based on a structure determined by an initial discovery, modify the template during a traversing of the template, and generate a display of the template indicating states of the application according to the impact rules. The application topology is multi-tiered and includes nodes associated with elements of the application and dependencies between the nodes. The states include at least one of an actual state or a scenario state.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A system for skeleton-based discovery of an application in a computer network, the system comprising:
 a processor configured to:
 generate a template for an application topology of the application based on a structure determined by an initial discovery and retrieved from storage, wherein the application topology is multi-tiered and comprises: nodes associated with elements of the application, and dependencies between the nodes; 
 modify the template during a traversing of the template, including:
 on a condition that two or more nodes of a tier have a common feature, aggregating the two or more nodes associated with the tier into a cluster; and 
 defining impact rules for representing a state of the application in response to events affecting the nodes; and 
 
 generate a display of the template indicating states of the application according to the impact rules, wherein the states include at least one of an actual state or a scenario state, wherein the scenario state is displayed in response to a simulated change to the application. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the common feature includes at least one of a same node type, a same incoming connection, or a same outgoing connection. 
     
     
       3. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the common feature includes a connection category. 
     
     
       4. The system of  claim 3 , wherein the connection category includes an application flow category representing a connection between two nodes. 
     
     
       5. The system of  claim 3 , wherein the connection category includes a cluster connection category representing a connection between a node and a cluster. 
     
     
       6. The system of  claim 3 , wherein the connection category includes an inclusion connection category representing a node containing other nodes. 
     
     
       7. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the impact rules include representing the application according to a color coding mapped to multiple scenario states. 
     
     
       8. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the simulated change includes removing an element of the application. 
     
     
       9. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the simulated change includes servicing an element of the application at a particular time. 
     
     
       10. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the impact rules include defining a state of a parent node having non-clustered children to be a same state as of the non-clustered children. 
     
     
       11. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the impact rules include defining a state of a parent node having clustered children to be a same state as of a child having a most severe state for the cluster. 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to modify the template by:
 replacing a discovered cluster of nodes with a generic cluster placeholder to accommodate changes within a cluster without affecting the template. 
 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to modify the template by:
 for each node and tier: 
 including a discovery pattern and an identification section used to discover the node. 
 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to modify the template by:
 defining a re-discovery frequency category for each tier; and 
 including the re-discovery frequency category in the template. 
 
     
     
       15. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to modify the template by:
 including information identifying credentials used for each identified node in the cluster. 
 
     
     
       16. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to modify the template by:
 deleting host information associated with each node. 
 
     
     
       17. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to generate the display of the template by:
 implementing at least one skeleton-based policy that comprises at least one of: an affinity policy or a network policy. 
 
     
     
       18. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to generate the display of the template by:
 indicating a non-compliance with a skeleton-based policy including at least one of: exceeding a policy limit on maximum number of nodes in a tier or exceeding a policy limit on a key performance indicator for a tier. 
 
     
     
       19. A method for skeleton-based discovery of an application in a computer network, the method comprising:
 generating a template for an application topology of the application based on a structure determined by an initial discovery and retrieved from storage, wherein the application topology is multi-tiered and comprises: nodes associated with elements of the application, and dependencies between the nodes; 
 modifying the template during a traversing of the template, including:
 on a condition that two or more nodes of a tier have a common feature, aggregating the two or more nodes associated with the tier into a cluster; and 
 defining impact rules for representing a state of the application in response to various types of events affecting the nodes; and 
 
 generating a display of the template indicating states of the application according to the impact rules, wherein the states include at least one of an actual state or a scenario state, wherein the scenario state is displayed in response to a simulated change to the application. 
 
     
     
       20. A computer program product, comprising a computer usable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein, said computer readable program code adapted to be executed by a processor to implement the steps of:
 generating a template for an application topology of an application in a computer network based on a structure determined by an initial discovery and retrieved from storage, wherein the application topology is multi-tiered and comprises: nodes associated with elements of the application topology, and dependencies between the nodes; 
 modifying the template during a traversing of the template, including:
 on a condition that two or more nodes of a tier have a common feature, aggregating the two or more nodes associated with the tier into a cluster; and 
 defining impact rules for representing a state of the application in response to various types of events affecting the nodes; and 
 
 generating a display of the template indicating states of the application according to the impact rules, wherein the states include at least one of an actual state or a scenario state, wherein the scenario state is displayed in response to a simulated change to the application.